The Ghost of COGSCARS Past...#1

With COGSCARS 2009 now just under a week away (and with a little spare time on my hands this morning), I've let my thoughts wonder down memory lane and reminisce over some of the highs from previous end of year COGSCARS events. Here's a quick list of what made the first one I can remember (2004) so great:

It was the end of my grade 11 year and I had been in Durban for just over 14 months at that stage. David Smith, Andrew Wilkins and myself had just become good friends and during the year we had played with the idea of starting a band (read some of our history on the facebook group "Smash and Grab" or click on the link here http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=app_2373072738&ref=ts&gid=6217291287#/topic.php?uid=6217291287&topic=3292). News of our musical attempts reached the ears of Mike Gooch (the guy leading the youth at the time) and he foolishly thought it would be a good idea to get us to play at the COGSCARS that year. Despite Paul's many vociferous protests, "De ja vu", as we were first named, somehow made it onto the agenda for the infamous night.

The three of us hadn't been playing our various instruments for any substantial length of time, so you can imagine the torment for the audience that followed. If you ask people who were there that night what they remember from that auspicious occasion, I bet they won't mention our 5 minute time slot as they have conveniently erased it from their memories!

But besides this, it was a great night! We had it in the actual church building, and the decor was absolutely incredible. Nick Hustler had braided hair, Jono Rich wore a t-shirt and a jacket and Dan Bailey won "most likely to take his shirt off in public" (mainly because James Robertson wasn't there). James at this stage had a preoccupation with showing off his abs, his biceps and his lats to anyone who was remotely interested. When he realised that not many people were interested, he began removing his shirt at youth at the proverbial drop of a hat. So we thought that pointing out this particular obsession of his with an award at COGSCARS would maybe curb his enthusiasm, but alas he was playing in a cricket tournament that week, and so Dan Bailey won the prize intended for James instead(a packet of cat food if I remember correctly) and the legend of "Dan the ladies man" became official!


As our countdown continues till friday night, so to will our recollections of COGSCARS through the years. So make this blog your home-page and get ready as the Ghost of COGSCARS Past keeps you in the loop...